November 21, 2013

Samsung's 'Crisis of Design' Cost them another $290 Million

After failed attempts by Samsung to get a mistrial, the Silicon Valley jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $290 million in damages for copying vital iPhone and iPad features. In an e-mailed statement, Apple stated that the case "has always been about more than patents and money. It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love." Today's verdict is the fifth-largest jury award in the U.S. in 2013.

Today's verdict covers 13 older Samsung devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that infringed Apple patents. The previous jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion. But U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered the new trial and tossed out $450 million of the damages after concluding the previous jury miscalculated the amount Samsung owed.

Samsung appealed that verdict and is expected to appeal the latest verdict. A third trial is scheduled for March to consider Apple's claims that Samsung's newest devices on the market also copied Apple's technology.

Bloomberg noted that "On its own, today's verdict is the fifth-largest jury award in the U.S. in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It's the largest jury award this year in a patent case. Total damages owed by Samsung now stand at $930 million.

'For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money,' Kristin Huguet, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, said in a phone interview after the verdict. 'It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love. While it's impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.'"

Apple's Superstar Witness

Bloomberg also pointed out that "Colleen Allen, who served as forewoman of the jury, said in an interview after the verdict that Apple's expert witness on damages, Julie Davis, 'was on it.'

Davis was a 'superstar witness' who remained steady even on cross-examination, said Allen, an ex-U.S. military medic who served a tour in Afghanistan and now runs a mobile blood collecting business.

Pounding Home Samsung's Crisis of Design

In closing arguments, Bloomberg notes that "Apple lawyer Bill Lee of Wilmer Hale, employing a tactic that proved successful in the 2012 trial, urged jurors to focus on documents that he said revealed Samsung's motive for copying, including a Samsung executive's e-mail lamenting that the company was experiencing a 'crisis of design' due to competition from the iPhone."

On Tuesday, an appellate court decision opened the way for Apple to again pursue a ban on some Samsung mobile devices. Apple sought the ban after its patent victory last August.

The total due Apple from the two cases now adds up to $929.83 million.